A member of the United States Naval Academy
Class of 1947, Second Lieutenant Guild commanded the 2nd Platoon, Company
C, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division.

On September 21, 1950, while leading his platoon
in an assault on Hills 80 and 85 near Youngdong-po, on the outskirts of
Seoul, South Korea, he was killed by enemy small arms fire.

For his leadership and valor, Second Lieutenant
Guild was awarded the Navy Cross, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service
Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the National Defense Service
Medal.

The Navy Cross is presented to John Ninian
Guild (O-49817), Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary
heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of
the United Nations while serving as a Platoon Leader in Company C, First
Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), in action
against enemy aggressor forces during the assault and capture of Hill 85
near Yongdungp'o, Korea, on 20 September 1950.

Leading his platoon in an aggressive attack
up a steep slope without cover against well-entrenched enemy positions
on high ground, Second Lieutenant Guild coolly directed the deployment
of his men and, exposing himself to hostile grenades and machine-gun, rifle
and mortar fire, succeeded in personally destroying two of the enemy. Pressing
onward at the head of his group in the face of the continued intense hostile
barrage, he was fatally wounded but refused medical attention until all
his men had been cared for and, despite his own critical condition, continued
to direct the attack until he lost consciousness. An officer of outstanding
courage and leadership, Second Lieutenant Guild, by his indomitable fighting
spirit and unwavering devotion to duty, upheld the highest traditions of
the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Photo
Courtesy of the American Battle Monuments Commission

FATHER'S PROTEST
READ TO SENATORSSays Hand Of Dead G. I. Son Were Tied By "Hated"
Policy of Appeasement to Reds

WASHINGTON, May 26, 1951 - A father's bitter
letter - saying his boy had been killed in Korea because of a "hated and
dishonorable" policy of appeasement - was read at the Senate hearing on
foreign policy today.

Senator William F. Knowland, Republican of
California, read the letter, which he said had been delivered personally
to Senator Eugene D. Millikin, Republican of Colorado, by Eugene R. Guild
of Glenwood Spring, Colorado. Senator Knowland said Mr. Guild was
a retired Army Captain of Infantry.

General J. Lawton Collins, the Army Chief of
Staff, was in the witness chair when the Senator obtained permission to
read the letter. It follows:

"I have just buried my boy at Arlington (National
Cemetery), a boy, who in dying, earned the award next in rank to the Medal
of Honor, the Navy Cross.

"My son was killed by a piece of metal; a piece
of metal shipped to the enemy in all likelihood by our so-called allied
whose continuing recognition and support of our enemy will long live in
infamy.

"He was killed by a piece of metal brought
down over supply lines we were forbidden to bomb, and made into ammunition
by power from Korean dams we were forbidden to destroy; a piece of metal
whose transportation was protected by Red planes we were forbidden to pursue
and shoot down.

"The name for the reason this and other bits
of metal were transported and protected until they could kill this boy
and other thousands of American boys is a justly hated and dishonorable
one - it is appeasement.

"Our leaders prefer to call it by another name
and they excuse it on the grounds of expediency. It has, they say,
given us more time - which is but a paraphrase of 'Peace in our time.'
It has, they say, kept us out of a big war. Those excused are but echoes
of the words of the man with the umbrella at Munich.

"This boy, these boys, fought and died without
hope or chance of victory. When before in our history has America
ever committed such a crime against its fighting sons? Appeasement
tied one of their hands; the Reds tied the other, and so shackled, they
died.

"The reasons for paying blackmail are always
compelling, and the alternative to paying it, is always horrible.
Pay or have your house burned down; pay or have your child murdered.
The reasons today are no less compelling - pay or have World War III, pay
or have Washington atomic bombed.

"Nevertheless appeasement or paying blackmail
is wrong and does not work. The child held for ransom has already
been killed; the decision to hurn your house down has been made not matter
how much blackmail you pay. Today the Russian decision as to whether and
when to attack will not be altered by our hand-tying appeasement.

"We are paying with beloved human lives to
buy time that we might have for nothing. Our blackmail payments in
American blood purchase neither time nor security."

When he finished reading the letter, Senator
Knowland asked General Collins whether he wasnted to comment.

"I have no comments, Sir," General Collins
replied.

Almost at the same time the letter was being
read, Mr. Guild received a posthumous award of the Navy Cross to his son,
Marine Lieutenant John N. Guild, in ceremonies at the Marine Corps Schools
in Quantico, Virginia. Young Guild was cited for "extraordinaryheroism
as a platoon leader during the assault and capture of Hill 85 near Youngdungpo,
Korea, on September 20, 1950."
GUILD,
JOHN N2ND LT.
USMCDATE OF
BIRTH: 05/19/1925DATE OF
DEATH: 09/21/1950BURIED
AT: SECTION 7 SITE 9073-2 RARLINGTON
NATIONAL CEMETERY
Page Added:
17 January 2003 Updated: 1 December 2004 Updated: 30 October
2005 Updated: 29 April 2006 Updated: 6 January 2007Updated:
7 August 2007